Baseball team seems snakebit right now

Baseball team seems snakebit right now

April 24, 2001

STAFF REPORT

The Panther varsity baseball team seems to be snakebit right now. They are certainly playing well enough to win but they just aren’t getting the Ws in the record book.

"We outhit both Grand Junction High and Fruita-Monument," Montezuma-Cortez High School coach Chuck Cotter said. "We gave only five hits to Fruita and no earned runs. Against Junction we gave up only four hits and they had only two earned runs. Our goal going into the weekend was to play to win and to be competitive. We accomplished both of those but we still can’t seem to put a W in the book."

The Panthers will try take on the Demons in Durango at 3 p.m. today, April 24. Cortez was clobbered by the Demons 26-3 in five innings the last time the two teams met in Cortez on April 3.

"The game will be a lot different this time around. That was our only game this year where we really played poorly. Yeah, we may have had a few big innings, but we really haven’t played badly this season. We have been competitive and we’re right there," he added.

The Tigers defeated MCHS 5-2 and, after falling behind 11-0 in the top of the first came back to beat Durango 20-19 the day before. The win all but eliminated the Demons from post-season play.

Against the Panthers at Suplizio Field on Saturday, April 21, Grand Junction jumped out quickly and made it hold up, using the pitching of Gary Blackburn and John Jansons to earn the win over Cortez.

Blackburn, who started the game for Grand Junction on Friday but was relieved in the first inning, came back to pitch against the Panthers. Blackburn (4-2) responded with five shutout innings, allowing four hits.

Cortez got runners at the corners in the first inning before Blackburn induced a fly ball for the third out.

The Tigers took advantage of Panther pitcher Tony McComb's control problems in the bottom of the first, drawing three walks sandwiched between designated hitter Kacey Witte's two-run single and Dane Griffin's RBI base hit to left.

Blackburn drew the third walk and his courtesy runner, Matt Elsner, advanced on a fielder's choice and a wild pitch before scoring on a passed ball for a 4-0 Grand Junction lead.

The Tigers scored their last run in the second as Sean Cavanaugh led off by reaching on the Panthers' lone error of the day. He stole second and scored when Nick Finley singled to left. Blackburn was relieved in the top of the sixth by Jansons, who gave up a run and two hits in each of the last two innings.

The Tigers had four hits, two coming from Finley, who said two intense days on the practice field spelled the change in the Tigers' snapping a steak of four losses in five games.

Just when it looked like the tides were changing, the Fruita Monument High School baseball team found a way to win.

After giving up two runs in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2, the Wildcats scored a run in the seventh inning on a pair of errors as Fruita edged Montezuma Cortez 3-2 Friday at Suplizio Field in a Southwestern League baseball game.

With a pair of wins over Cortez in less than a week, Fruita Monument trails Durango by one game for second place in the SWL.

With a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning, a pair of Fruita errors put runners on first and second with one out for Cortez. McComb singled to left field to drive in two runs as the ball bounced past Ray Bishop to tie the game.

In the bottom of the seventh inning pitcher Colvin Akers singled with one out and took second on an errant throw from Cortez catcher Chris Dibsie. Andrew Sloan followed with a grounder to Josh Knapp, but Knapp's throw to first sailed wide, allowing Akers to score the winning run. Knapp was playing third in place of Chris Nittler who was sick.

The teams combined for 10 errors.

Akers pitched well for the Wildcats, allowing three hits and two unearned runs. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. Preston Cornett pitched very well for the Panthers, throwing to spots, but his teammates didn’t help much in the field.

The Panthers slipped to 2-11 overall and are 0-7 in SWL.